Tree Tots Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff greet parents and children as they arrive. They settle children and help them to start exploring the environment with their friends. Staff gather information from parents and through their observations of the children as they play. They use this information to inform their curriculum, ensuring that it builds effectively on what children know and can do. For example, staff encourage children to rummage through coloured rice and look for 'treasure'. Children use different-sized tweezers to pick up any treasure they find. This helps them to develop their small-muscle skills. Children use their imagination as they act out real-life experiences. For example, they put bandages on their friends as they play doctors and nurses.

Staff encourage children to cut up their own fruit, butter their own bread and wash up their plates at snack time. This supports them to build their self-care skills effectively. Staff support children to learn about the benefits of managing their personal hygiene. For example, they encourage them to wash their hands and wipe their own noses independently. Children have many opportunities to develop their physical skills and get plenty of fresh air. Staff use positive strategies to help to manage children's feelings and frustrations. This helps to support their emotional well-being. As a result, children's behaviour is good.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Staff provide children with a broad and balanced curriculum. They have a good understanding of what children in their care need to do next to move on in their development. Staff apply this knowledge when planning activities to promote children's development. However, at times, they do not challenge and extend children's learning further through consistently good interactions so that children make even higher rates of progress.
• Children spend as much time as possible outside, in all weathers. They use bicycles and run around with confidence. Staff provide children with different experiences. For example, they learn to balance and stretch their bodies during yoga sessions and discover nature through scavenger hunts. Children work together and use their imagination as they construct in the builders role-play area. They enjoy drawing plans of buildings so that they can build them with the large bricks. Children are absorbed and engaged in their play and learning.
• Staff work together to establish and teach consistent routines. This helps to promote children's confidence and independence. Children learn how to behave well and to become a member of a team. For example, children of all ages participate in tidying up ready for lunchtime when they hear the music to a well-known film.
• Staff weave mathematical concepts well through children's play. For example, they encourage children to count the sides of shapes and discuss size as they construct with bricks. Children enjoy making dough and talk about different quantities of ingredients they need.
• Children are developing their communication and language skills. Staff ensure that children have lots of opportunities to listen to and read stories. They ask questions and talk about the characters and pictures. Children enjoy singing songs every day.
• Managers ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported to make good progress. Staff are quick to identify children who are not at their expected levels of development. They make swift referrals and work in partnership with other professionals to target plans for those children who need them.
• Managers actively seek and embrace the views of parents, staff and children to continually enhance the quality of the provision. Staff provide good support and guidance to parents, such as parenting advice and ideas on how they can help to promote their child's learning at home. Parents express high levels of appreciation and gratitude.
• The manager and staff team are dedicated and work closely as a team. Staff are encouraged to attend training, and they benefit from regular meetings and supervision. Managers consider the workload and well-being of staff and support them very well. Managers are fully committed to continually building on the good-quality care and education they offer children and families.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to further develop their already good interactions to extend and challenge children in their learning.